Stop Telling Me to Breathe
by adelaidybug
Summary: Lincoln loves Octavia. She loves him too, but she's not sure she wants to drag him along when she's struggling just to breathe. Meanwhile, Raven's life is crumbling.
1. Chapter 1

She's in class and it's fine. Her lungs are clogged and she's having trouble breathing, but it's fine. She will hold out for winter break. She can't miss more school or she'll be held back. Mucus catches in her throat and she coughs wetly, agonizingly, for what seems a long time.

"O, are you okay?" Raven whispers.

"What?" She asks, a bit dazed.

"Your cough sounds bad. Do you need to go to the nurse for a neb treatment?"

Octavia smirks. She finds it vaguely amusing that Raven knows her coughs well enough to know what was bad.

"I'm okay. Just a little gunky."

"Okay." Raven isn't sure Octavia's really okay, but she decides to leave her alone till the end of class.

Twenty minutes later, Octavia has been coughing almost continually.

"Hey, are you okay?" the new kid in class asks. His seat is next to hers. She's pretty sure his name is Lincoln. He seems like a nice kid.

She's about to say she's fine, when she erupts into another cough, this time gagging. When she recovers, she's clutching at her chest and trying to breathe. She feels hungry for air, and it's a terrible feeling. Raven raises her hand, asking if she can walk Octavia down to the nurse's office, and Mr. Kane quickly complies. As they walk out into the hallway, Octavia braces against Raven's shoulder as she coughs harshly. They finally get to the nurse's office after what seems like miles of walking to Octavia. Indra, the school nurse, sits Octavia down and gets her nebulizer out. Within a couple of minutes, the girl is breathing in the mist deeply through the mouthpiece of the nebulizer. Raven squeezes her hand.

"I'll go get us some good notes," the Latina girl says, leaving.

Octavia shuts her eyes and concentrates on breathing, moving only for long strings of wet coughing.

* * *

Lincoln had noticed Octavia the first day he went to class, which had been in early November. He was trying to catch up on everything in school, since he had moved mid-semester because of a change in foster care.

He notices that the girl didn't return to class, though Raven slid back into her seat. Was she okay?

"Is Octavia okay?" He whispers to Raven.

"Yeah. She has cystic fibrosis, so this is a pretty typical day for her." Raven knows Octavia wouldn't mind if she told this guy. It wasn't like she could hide that she was sick, and she'd rather people knew she didn't have some sort of contagious cough.

"Oh, okay" Lincoln says. He doesn't really know what cystic fibrosis was, but he'll look it up later.

* * *

When the neb treatment is over, she feels shaky and a little sick, but she can breathe a little better.

"How are you feeling now, Octavia?" Indra asks.

"Kinda tired and jittery."

"Was it a rough morning?"

She nods. "I was thinking about not coming to school, but I want to miss as little as possible."

"That's understandable. I'm guessing IVs are coming soon?"

She nods.

"Well, do you want to go back to class?"

Of course she wants to. She wants to be a normal teenager. She wants to have the energy to everything she wants to do. Unfortunately, she feels sick enough that all she has the energy to do is shake her head.

"I'm going to call your brother to come pick you up."

She doesn't protest. Indra calls her brother, and half an hour later, Bellamy is in the room helping her up and putting his arm around her to support her as they walk to his car. They stop several times as she braces herself against him and coughs.

On the ride home, her eyes drift shut and he can hear her lungs crackling even as she sleeps. When they get to the apartment, he nudges her awake.

"How do your lungs feel about walking?"

"They're not up to it" she murmurs.

"Okay." He gets out of the car and walks around to her side, opening her door. First, he grabs her backpack and puts in on, and then he picks her up. "You know, when I carry you, it's the only time I'm glad you're skinny as hell."

He carries her through the lobby, catches the elevator up to the third floor, and they finally get to the apartment. He deposits her on the couch, setting her backpack down next to her. Her vest is soon fastened around her and turned on. It shakes her body, dislodging the gunk from her clogged lungs. She coughs, deeply, and grabs a tissue from the coffee table, spitting into it.

"Shit," she says, turning off the vest.

"What's wrong?"

The tissue is covered in blood when she turns it toward him.

"Oh… I'm going to call Dr. Griffin."

"Tell her I want to wait to go back in till Christmas break. This has happened a couple of times before, remember? And both times we went in for an x-ray and nothing showed up."

"I'll tell her, but if she wants you to go in, we're taking you in."

Bellamy calls her doctor, and Octavia lays down. He hands her a thermometer, which soon reveals that she has a fever of 101 degrees Fahrenheit.

"Where are you on the breath scale, O?"

"Like a four." They had made up a breath scale similar to the "pain scale." 10 was breathing perfectly, 1 was suffocating.

"Are you having night sweats?" He asks, his ear still pressed to the phone.

She nods, coughing, then gagging.

Bellamy finally gets off the phone and sits down on the couch with his sister. She snuggles closer to him.

"What'd Dr. Griffin say?"

"She said to check in over the next couple of days, and no vest for 24 hours after any blood in your mucus."

"Okay."

"Do you want to sleep?"

"No. Let's watch something."

They settle on Gilmore Girls, and Octavia continues to cough and gag for another hour before she finally falls asleep. Octavia's phone beeps and Bellamy gets it from her backpack.

"Hey O," he says quietly.

"Yeah?" She mumbles, eyes still closed.

"Raven texted you. She's wondering if you're up to having her over."

"Yeah, she's pretty low maintenance."

Raven comes to their house 20 minutes later.

"I'm here," she says unceremoniously, dropping her stuff near the door.

Octavia is dozing again, and Raven comes into the living room, sitting down on an overstuffed chair.

"She's pretty tired," Bellamy says softly. "She was coughing up blood, so we can't do airway clearance."

"What does that mean as far as school goes?"

"It's happened a couple of times before. It's basically a sign of further infection. It means she needs to go back on IVs. She was hoping to wait until winter break, but I think she'll be in the hospital within the next two weeks."

Raven sighs.

"Have you called your mom?"

"No. She's representing a client in court today."

"Don't you think she'd want to know?"

"We'll tell her when the court is in recess. She usually texts us to check in."

* * *

Octavia finally wakes up around 5pm, still coughing hard.

"Hey sleepyhead," Raven says.

"Did you get me good notes?"

"Yup. Are you hungry?"

"No."

"What if we made you mac and cheese?"

"I'll try. I've been gagging a lot."

"Okay. Hey, the new kid asked about you."

"Lincoln?"

"Yeah. He wanted to see if you were okay."

"Did you tell him I'm slowly suffocating to death?"

"No. I told him you have CF, and he didn't ask any more questions."

"Nothing about my charming personality or steel trap of a mind?"

"Sorry, no."

"I'm hurt," she cries dramatically, then dissolves into a coughing fit. This one ends in her draped over the kitchen sink, vomiting. Bellamy rubs her back, whispering that it's okay even though it's not.

"Wanna sit down?" Raven asks.

She nods, grimacing, and she helps her back to the couch. The night is spent watching Gilmore Girls and trying to keep Octavia in good spirits. At around 9pm, their mom finally comes home. She can hear Octavia's deep coughing before she even gets through the door.

"What's going on, Octavia? Have you done your vest?"

"Can't." she whimpers raspily.

"Why not?"

"She's been coughing up blood," Bellamy explains quietly to his mother.

"Did you call Dr. Griffin?"

"Yeah, she says we'll keep monitoring it."

"Okay. Honey, thank you for taking such good care of your sister."

"It's okay. You can't do everything."

The woman sat down next to her daughter, rubbing her arm gently.

"How are you, sweetie?"

"Tired." She croaked.

"Do you want to take a bath?"

She ponders for a moment, then agrees, and in 20 minutes, she's in the bathtub under a delicious foam of purple bubbles. For some reason, baths seem like the ultimate luxury for the girl, and for the short time before it goes cold, it seems that it makes her CF go away. The warmth and the candles she always lights make her feel comfortable and okay, and seem to loosen the tightness in her chest. That night, despite her clogged lungs and irritable stomach, she sleeps better.

* * *

Octavia manages to go to school in the morning, but once she's there, she wishes she had stayed home. She had coughs up blood again, which means she can't do her airway clearance until tomorrow, and her lungs are suffering. Bellamy carries her to the car and then to the door of the school, where Raven meets them and holds Octavia's arm inconspicuously as they walk to History. Lincoln, the new kid who had apparently asked about her, greets her when she comes in.

"Hey, you're Octavia, right?"

"Yeah."

"I'm Lincoln."

"Yeah, I know. I mean, it's nice to meet you." She stumbles over her words.

"Nice to meet you too. Are you feeling better?"

"Uh, yeah a little bit. There's kind of always good days and bad days."

He nods, not sure how to respond.

"Alright, class, let's get going," Mr. Kane says, "I'm going to pair you up for the end-of-term paper that's coming up in a couple of weeks."

He pairs them up, and whether it's by chance or fate, Octavia and Lincoln are put together for the paper. They're given the rest of the class period to work on their paper.

"I've gotta be honest, Lincoln. Raven gave me the notes for Mr. Kane's lecture on the paper, but I haven't looked them over yet."

"That's alright. Basically, we're going to be writing a paper on one of the wars we've learned about this term. We have to explain how the war impacted the people, who won, and how you can see the effects of that war today."

"Okay. Which one do you want to go for?"

"Maybe the civil war? I feel like everyone is going to do the Revolution or World War I."

"Yeah, sounds good to me," she said. She wheezes slightly, then erupts into coughing. It takes several long minutes for her lungs to calm down.

"Are you okay?"

"Yup, I'm fine. You know, the Civil War just got me so excited."

He laughs.

"I mean, the only thing that could have been better than a civil war is some damn civil communication."

"Octavia Blake," Mr. Kane says half-heartedly from his desk. He doesn't really care about swearing, but he's supposed to bust the students on it. Meanwhile, Lincoln is cackling.

They haven't finished their outline by the time class ends, and they need more time to work on their paper.

"Are you around this weekend?" Lincoln asks.

"Probably. I uh… might be going to the hospital this weekend. My pipes need a little maintenance. But hopefully it can wait."

"Okay… Well, if you're not in the hospital, do you think you'll be up to working on the paper?"

"Yeah, definitely. Would you mind coming to my apartment? I don't have my license yet."

"Sure."

"Alright, can I text you my address?"

He nods, telling her his number, and moments later he gets a text with her address. When they part for their next classes, she feels bad that the guy got stuck with her as a partner. She'll work hard on the paper, but if she ends up in the hospital, she's not sure if she'll have the time or energy to do her work on time. He, on the other hand, is excited to see her again. He likes her and wants to get to know her better.


	2. Chapter 2

Saturday arrives, and Lincoln texts Octavia.

 **Lincoln: RU in the hospital?**

 **Octavia: No. What time are you coming over?**

 **Lincoln: 4pm?**

 **Octavia: Okay. Come hungry. My brother decided to make approx 50 dozen Christmas cookies.**

 **Lincoln: Wow**

 **Octavia: Yup.**

A few hours later, Lincoln is let into the building by the doorman and makes his way to the third floor. He's amazed by how nice the building is. He knocks on the door, and a tall guy, maybe a few years older than him, answers.

"Are you Lincoln?"

He nods and the guy lets him in.

"Hey Lincoln," Octavia greets him raspily. She has steadily been getting worse in the past few days. Her lungs burn if she does anything more than lay down. She's sitting in the living room on one of the couches, covered by a warm, fuzzy blanket.

"By the way, Bellamy, you're supposed to introduce yourself to guests." She says a bit sharply.

"Hi, I'm Bellamy," he says with a cheesy grin.

"Nice to meet you," Lincoln says out of courtesy. "Alright, I brought my laptop. I thought maybe today we could make an outline and start the paper, and then we can finish it on a shared document online."

"Sounds good."

"I figured we could start it with an anecdote; maybe a battle scene."

"I like it. Let's add some gory details; set Mr. Kane on edge." Octavia suggests deviously.

They spend another hour and a half outlining and writing before Bellamy interrupts them.

"Hey, do you guys want some cookies?" Bellamy asks, bringing over a plate with 6 different kinds.

"Jeez, Bell, is there any sugar left in Manhattan?"

"Probably not."

Both teens take several cookies and Bellamy goes back to the kitchen.

"So uh… Is he just really in the Christmas spirit?"

"Kind of. I'll probably be in the hospital over Christmas, so I think he's trying to get as much in as possible."

"Oh. So uh… Why will you be in the hospital?"

"Well, with cystic fibrosis I have sticky mucus in my lungs, and I have a hard time getting it out. That causes infections and damage in my lungs, so I go in for rounds of IV antibiotics to try to get those under control."

"Wow."

"Yeah, it's a blast."

"Do you get a lot of visitors in the hospital?"

"Usually just Bellamy, Raven, and my mom."

"Hmm. Are you allowed to have more visitors?"

"Yeah. As long as people aren't sick and use good hand hygiene, anyone can come visit."

"Huh. Well, I'll have to keep that in mind."

"Oh, uh, you don't have to. I mean, that'd be nice, but I'm sure you have better things to do with your time."

"No I don't. But I'll only come visit if you want me to."

"Well, yeah I guess it'd be nice to have more visitors."

They do as much work as they can on the paper, and the Lincoln goes home. He's really starting to like Octavia, and he can't wait to see her again.

* * *

Sunday is a little rough, but Octavia gets through it and is in class on Monday morning. She and Lincoln meet to continue working on their paper after school.

"So Lincoln, got any siblings?" Octavia asks as they walk over to the library. It's only a block away from their school, but the cold weather and fatigue of the day are making it hard for her to breathe.

"Yep, I have two sisters: Lexa, who's in college for communication and Anya, who's 25. She's a lawyer."

"So is my mom."

"Nice! Is Bellamy your only sibling?"

"Yup." She pauses, leaning on the side of a building, and catches her breath.

"You okay?"

"Yeah just- Just give me a minute."

"Alright, you need anything?"

She shakes her head.

Eventually they make it into the library, and Octavia sits down in the nearest couch. She tries to catch her breath, but her heart seems to be trying to escape her rib cage, and she feels like she's suffocating as she coughs and coughs.

"Hey, hey are you okay?"

Everything blurs for a little bit, and then she finds herself lying down with Lincoln rubbing her shoulder gently.

"Are you feeling any better?"

She nods.

"I'm sorry. I thought I could handle the walk."

"It's okay. Do you want to go home?"

"No, let's work on the paper."

"Okay."

She sits up slowly, then pulls her laptop out of her bag.

"Alright, so let's talk about that Civil War."

"You know, this paper is so good, maybe we should just write a history book together."

"Oh totally." Octavia grins.

They continue working on their paper and exchanging witty banter. Octavia feels bad that Lincoln had to see her like that. She was used to people seeing her sick, but for some reason she doesn't want Lincoln to see her that way. Lincoln is worried about Octavia. He's been thinking about her a lot, and hates that she seems to be used to feeling like crap.


	3. Chapter 3

On Tuesday, Octavia isn't sure she's going to be able to walk to all of her classes, and is late to the last two because of how often she has to stop and cough and catch her breath. Many of the kids are starting to get sick, meaning she has to wear a papery mask at school, making her even more of a spectacle.

Lincoln and Octavia pretty much finish their paper during study hall, and Octavia is grateful because it means that if she has to go into the hospital, he won't suffer for it. The minute she gets home from school, she crashes, and falls asleep during her percussion treatment, something quite challenging to do. Bellamy finds her sleeping as her vest shakes up her lungs, and gently repositions her so she's laying down. She doesn't eat that night. Bellamy is worried that she's losing weight, but knows if she's not eating it's because she's feeling nauseated and awful.

* * *

On Wednesday, Octavia's body is done. She throws up from coughing before she's even fully awake. Bellamy finds her an hour later, crying. It's only 5 am, but he had heard her coughing.

"O, what's wrong?"

"I think I should go into the hospital today." She says, her breath crackling inside her.

"Really?"

"Yeah. I don't even know if I can get up."

"Okay. I'll call Dr. Griffin. Do you have a bag packed?"

She pauses, holding her hand over her mouth for a moment. He runs a hand through her hair while she squeezes her eyes shut.

"It's the brown one in the closet." She says wearily.

"Alright. It's going to be okay, O." He goes and calls Dr. Griffin, telling her that Octavia needs to come in. Then, he gets dressed and packs a bag with his laptop, phone, wallet, some snacks, a book, and chargers.

Octavia gets up and starts getting dressed, but she's coughing again, and then she's throwing up again, and soon she's sitting on the floor, resting against the wall and crying with a garbage can between her knees. Bellamy helps her back into bed. Her percussion vest is soon strapped on, and she uses it for an hour. He brings her breakfast, but she doesn't eat it.

Their mom is in court with with a client, so her secretary takes the message from Bellamy. Lucy knows the kids almost as well as their own mother, and tells them that she'll let the woman know as soon as court is in recess. She wishes them a short check-in, and tells Octavia that she's sending a little treat over to the hospital.

Their mother calls them two hours later. She asks if Octavia wants her there, and the girl says no. Going to the hospital is normal. She doesn't need to pull her mother out of court for something normal. Even though she can't breathe and keeps breaking down into bouts of crying, and really wants her mom to be there, she says no. Raven comes. Of course Raven comes. She texts Bellamy after school, and she's over within 15 minutes. She sits with Octavia and plays with her hair as they wait for the hospital to call. It's well into the afternoon before they finally do, saying there's a bed ready for Octavia.

They pack up and Bellamy has to carry her to the car, while Raven carries their bags. They drive the 20 minutes to the East Manhattan Children's Hospital. Bellamy drops them off at the door, then goes to park in the parking garage. Octavia had slipped a mask over her mouth and nose and Raven pushes her through the hospital in a wheelchair. They go off to a quiet hallway without a lot of traffic, so Octavia is at less of a risk of getting sick.

Bellamy finds them a few minutes later, and he checks her in. _Finally_ she's in a room and can take her mask off. Her intake nurse checks her weight, frowning slightly as she enters the number on the electronic tablet she's holding, then checks her blood pressure, temperature and oxygen saturation. She finds the last vital quite low, and quickly sets her up with a nasal cannula which gives her extra oxygen. They access the port in her chest, and start her on fluids, because she's dehydrated. Bellamy feels guilty they didn't bring her in sooner. He's supposed to take care of her. He should have brought her in, school be damned. Her health is more important.

While this is happening, Raven starts doing all the little things that make hospital rooms feel more homey. She tapes up pictures on the wall and unpacks out Octavia's blanket and pillow from home. She puts the patient's meds on the rolling table, and sticks her toiletries in the bathroom. The girl had bought string lights a few years ago that they always strung up in the hospital, and Raven took these out, hanging them up the best she could. Octavia had spent so much time in the hospital over the years that all of them knew how to make a hospital room as homey as possible.

Octavia is given x-rays and breath tests and has tons of blood taken. The doctor decides on the antibiotic she should be given, and they start her on it. It's 8pm when the business of the day is done, and she falls asleep during her percussion treatment.

"How does she do that?" Raven asks. "She's being shaken like crazy, but she's just asleep."

"She did it yesterday too. She must be exhausted," Bellamy replies.

"So, are you and Echo doing okay?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I just haven't seen her around much."

"Oh. She's studying for her final exams, so she's pretty stressed."

"Is that weird?"

"What?"

"That she's going to college this year and you're not."

"No, it's fine. I could be if I wanted to, it's just-"

"Octavia."

"Yeah."

"You know, she could manage. I don't think you give her enough credit."

"I know. But I want to be around. I think… I think she's going to need more support soon."

"Like what?"

"Oxygen, maybe a mobility device."

She nods. She's seen the girl's lips turn blue more than once, and saw her pass out from the exertion of walking just a few weeks ago.

The timer goes off for Octavia's vest to be done, and Bellamy goes and turns it off. The patient wakes up and yawns as he helps her out of the thing.

"Hey, how are you feeling?"

"My face kind of feels like it's floating."

"I'm sorry."

"And I'm really cold."

"Okay." He bends down and kisses her hot forehead. She has a fever, which is expected but unpleasant.

"Is the oxygen helping you feel a little better?"

"I guess. I kind of feel all… pokey." This is the best word she can think of to describe the prickly way her skin feels; like little pins are sticking her from the inside.

"Do you want me to get a nurse?" Raven asks.

"No. It's fine." she mumbles, pulling her warm purple blanket from home up to her neck.

"Okay. I probably should get going. I have some homework to get done."

"Homework…" Octavia says, coughing wetly for a moment. "I'm missing school. I didn't make it to the end of the semester." She seems heartbroken, and Bellamy knows that most of it is the fever and the drugs and the exhaustion. He says goodbye to Raven, then sits on the edge of Octavia's bed.

"It's okay that you didn't finish the semester, O. Your health is more important."

"No, I'm missing so much school! What if I don't graduate in two years?"

"You can catch up in the summer if you need to. You'll graduate no problem."

The girl begins to cry, and Bellamy smooths back her dark hair, telling her it'll be okay. He goes home to rest when their mom comes to the hospital. She sits with Octavia when her fever spikes. Octavia's mother is not a great comforter. She tries, but it's never been her specialty. Neither sleep much between the bouts of coughing and crying, and when morning comes, they're both worse for the wear.

Octavia's mother goes to work, and she's alone for a while. She sleeps most of the day away, waking up for breath tests, vitals, and offers of food, the last of which she mostly refuses. Her oxygen saturation is still low, so they keep her on the oxygen. She gets a text from Lincoln that afternoon.

 **Linc: Raven said ur in the hospital.**

 **O: Yep.**

 **Linc: That sucks. Nd a visitor?**

 **O: Yes, but maybe tmrw?**

 **Linc: Ok. I'll txt you tmrw to check you're up for it.**

She can't help but be excited. Her days are long and hard, and it's nice to have visitors, even if she's not at her best.


	4. Chapter 4

She gets a visit from the Child Life Specialist the same day.

"Octavia, how are you?" The woman asks with a pleasant smile. It's her job to aid Octavia with her emotional well being.

"I don't feel good."

"Sorry to hear that. Is it your antibiotics?"

She nods. "And my oxygen levels are low, so I just feel kind of gross."

"Sounds like you might not have a lot of energy for activities."

She shakes her head, letting out a rattly breath out.

"Do you have some movies you want to see? Or audiobooks you want to listen to?"

"No. I've got some online lectures from one of my teachers I can listen to. If I can get him a paper by the end of winter break, I can move on to the next class, which will keep me on track to graduate next year."

"Wow, you're pretty motivated."

"Yeah. I want to go to college for linguistics."

"That's awesome. "

"I've always been interested in other languages and cultures."

"So, is there anything I can do to make you more comfortable?"

Octavia shakes her head.

"Okay. I'll be around. Maybe when you have a little more energy I can get you something to do."

She nods.

"How are you doing emotionally? You seem down."

"Well, yeah. I feel down that I'm in the hospital and that I can't do everything I want to do."

"Okay."

"Do you think you might be depressed?"

"I don't know. If I have a good reason to be sad, does that make me depressed?"

"Do you think it interferes with your daily life?"

"No, CF interferes with my daily life."

"Would you ever want to talk about things with a counselor?"

"Uh, no. I mean, I'd rather just talk with people I know."

"Okay."

The Child Life Specialist finally leaves, and a few minutes later, Bellamy shows up.

"Hey O."

"Hi. How was work?"

"Very loud."

"Mom, or someone else?"

"Murray." This was one of their mother's associates.

"Mmm, must have been a fun day."

"Oh yeah, I'd love to get yelled at by a 75 year old man every day."

* * *

Raven visits her that evening. Octavia is dozing, but is shaken from her sleep when she hears a gasp from Bellamy.

"What happened?"

"Nice to see you too." Raven says snarkily.

"Raven, who did this?"

"My mom's most recent boyfriend. He was drunk and high off his ass. I should've just stayed in my room, but I got bored."

"Rae, it's not your fault he hurt you. You should press charges."

"I'm fine."

"This shouldn't be no big deal. You shouldn't be fine after someone hurts you."

She sits down on a chair, sighing. "Bell, I didn't come here to be lectured. You and I both know this could have been a hell of a lot worse. I just want to put it behind me."

Octavia decides to make it known that she's awake, and turns over, opening her eyes. She sees Raven in a ¾ sleeve grey t shirt, with a dark bruise on her cheekbone and a split lip.

"Hey O," the girl says.

Octavia coughs and adjusts her oxygen cannula, then greets Raven.

"O, do you want some food?" Her brother asks.

"Want? No. Need? Probably."

"Yeah, your doctor wasn't too happy about your weight loss."

"I'm trying my best," she says a bit defensively.

"I know. What sounds the most bearable?"

"Some sort of sorbet. If that stays down, maybe some french fries."

Bellamy goes to the cafeteria to get her the food, while Raven stays in the room.

"So your mom's boyfriend hit you?"

"Yeah."

"Is that all he did?" She asks carefully.

"Yes. He didn't do anything else. I've got a few bruises on my ribs. Nothing terrible."

"Okay," she says softly, glancing at the dark bruise marring the girl's face. "Do you think anything's broken?"

"No."

"Cause, I mean, we're at a hospital. They could definitely check you out."

"I'm fine."

Raven wouldn't talk about it anymore. A few minutes later, Bellamy came back with raspberry sorbet and a container of fries. She took her pancreatic enzyme pills, which she needed to take with every meal, and then started in on the sorbet. She ended up eating a fourth of the pint and a few fries before falling asleep. Raven and Bellamy finished her food for her, not talking much.

* * *

The next day, Octavia's fever isn't as high and she feels a little better. Lincoln texts Octavia as he had promised to do.

 **Linc: Can I come visit u?**

 **O: Yah!**

An hour later, Lincoln was there. Her mother was at work, and her brother was at home, leaving her lonely that afternoon. Lincoln came in wearing a heavy coat and a backpack. Octavia hasn't been outside in a couple of days, but apparently the temperatures had dropped.

"Hey Octavia, how are you?"

"Good! It's good to see you."

"Good to see you too." He pulls off his backpack and coat, reaching and grabbing something from his backpack. First, he sets a thermos on the bedside table along with two tin mugs.

"Okay, so this might just be me, but last year when my sister was in the hospital for a migraine, the hospital we were at had terrible hot chocolate. It was kind of burnt and way too sweet. So, I brought my homemade hot chocolate. It's a recipe my grandmother used to make. If you don't want it, that's fine. I also brought candy canes and marshmallows, because you really can't not have those things with hot chocolate at Christmas time."

"This is perfect!" Octavia says excitedly.

"Oh good, I'm glad." He says, relieved. He pours them both mugs of the hot chocolate, then puts the bag of marshmallows on the over-bed table and hands her a candy cane. Octavia takes a few pills with a gulp of water, then tries the hot chocolate.

"Oh my gosh, this is amazing."

"Good."

They sit and enjoy the hot chocolate for a while.

"Uh, so this was my sister's idea," he says, pulling something from his backpack. "She thought you might like paper snowflakes in your room." He set paper and two pairs of scissors on the table.

The girl smiled. "That's such a good idea."

That afternoon, she and Lincoln make paper snowflakes and talk. He acts like it's normal when a nurse comes in to check Octavia's vitals. He tells her about how his sister brought home her girlfriend for Christmas, and the two of them have been completely inseparable. She tells him about Echo and how she's at college, and Bellamy isn't.

"So, does Bellamy work? I mean, since he's not at college."

"Yeah. He's interning at my mom's law firm. It's not really his favorite thing, but she was pissed that he decided to take a gap year. I bet your parents are pretty proud of your sisters."

"Uhh, yeah they would be. Uh, they died a few years ago."

"Oh Lincoln… I'm so sorry."

"It's okay." They were silent for a few minutes, and Octavia was mentally kicking herself.

"Uh, since we're on the subject, is your dad… I guess you never talk about him."

"I don't know who he is. My mom does, but she told me she'd rather have her fingernails pulled out than ever speak to him again."

"Wow."

"Yup."

"So um… on that pleasant note."

Octavia laughs.

"So are the IV treatments helping?"

"Not yet, but for the last two days my body has been reacting to them and now it's calming down a little bit."

"Well, that's… good?"

"Yeah, it is."

The rest of their visit is enjoyable. Lincoln hangs up the snowflakes with verbal direction from Octavia. The girl can't help but feel sort of domestic and cute, even though this _definitely_ isn't a date. Lincoln is completely taken by Octavia. He wants to communicate to her that he's interested without being pushy or creepy. He hopes he did a good job of that today. Admittedly, although he's sometimes annoyed by his sisters' advice, other times it's very useful.


	5. Chapter 5

It's been a week. Octavia's oxygen saturation keeps dipping below accepted levels, and her doctor keeps her on oxygen. Christmas break is in full swing and all of her friends on facebook are posting cute pictures of them sledding and hanging out with their families. She, meanwhile, is dealing with a three-day headache from hell. It makes Christmas less than enjoyable. While she's happy that her mom and Bellamy are both at the hospital with her, she has a hard time enjoying the time because her oxygen is still low, and her headache is pounding in her head.

Lincoln stops by a little too early on the day after Christmas, while Octavia is still being given chest P.T. by a nurse. He walks in on the nurse hitting Octavia's back with cupped hands, the bed tilted so Octavia's head is lower than the rest of her body.

"Hey, is this a bad time?"

"No, it's fine," Octavia says raspily, coughing and spitting into a tissue. "I told you about my vest, that shakes up my lungs. This is like that, but a little more effective. I was just doing the vest in place of chest P.T., but the doctor wants me to do both now."

"Ah, got it." He sits down.

The nurse continues, and Octavia coughs and gags, trying her best not to throw up.

"Sorry, Lincoln. If you want to go for a walk or something, you could. I know this isn't the most pleasant thing to listen to."

"Hey, it's fine. You don't have to apologize. The coughing is good, right? It means you're clearing your lungs."

"Yeah."

"Good. It's not bothering me."

Fifteen minutes later, Octavia is done, though still coughing deeply.

"How are you doing?"

"A little better than the last time I saw you."

"Good. Has the doctor told you a time frame for when you might get out?"

She shakes her head. "I still need to see the nutritionist tomorow, and my pulmonologist wants to see if my oxygen sats will go up as the antibiotics work. Otherwise I'll have to go home with oxygen, which I haven't done since I was little."

Lincoln nods. "Do you think that the antibiotics will work?"

"Probably not. As I've grown up, my body has built up resistance to some antibiotics. Maybe if we try another one, my lung function will improve. Or maybe my lungs just aren't what they used to be… You know, I really don't want to talk about health stuff anymore."

"Okay. Well, I don't know if you like board games, but I brought Settlers of Catan, if you want to play."

"I love this game! My brother and I play it all the time."

"Awesome."

They assemble the tessellation of hexagons that make up the board, then sort the pieces and start the game. As they play, Octavia tells him about how the Child Life Specialist came over on Christmas Eve with Christmas colors of nail polish, which is why her fingernails are painted in red and green glitter. He says he likes them; they're very festive.

* * *

Raven visits that evening. Her split lip has healed, but her cheekbone is still a greenish color. She looks tired and angry, but greets Octavia with a small smile.

"How was your Christmas?" Octavia asks from under her covers. It's been a long day, and she hasn't been getting a lot of sleep.

"Didn't have one."

"Oh."

"My mom ODed. I had to spend the day in the ICU with her while her boyfriend was god-knows-where."

"Is she okay?"

"Yeah. Not like I care. She'll be discharged tomorrow."

"Raven, come on. You would care if she died."

"Would I, O? Would it be that bad of a thing? I mean, if I had been left to her I would have starved to death. Maybe I shouldn't have called 911 this time. Maybe I should have just let her go."

Octavia gets up and hugs her friend. She can tell she's overly emotional which is never good for Raven.

"I can't do this, O." Raven says, voice dangerously close to crying.

"I'm sorry, Raven."

"How am I supposed to live like this for another two and a half years?"

"You're trying to save up to move out, right?"

"Yeah, but I can't until I turn eighteen."

"You know, you can always stay at our house."

"Yeah. But I have to go home sometimes."

"Do you?"

"Well, I'm sure your mom doesn't want me around all the time."

"She's barely ever home. She probably wouldn't even notice. Besides, you're like family, Raven."

The girl smiles and wiggles out of Octavia's hug.

"Raven, why don't you try to call the police on your mom? Or at least on her boyfriend."

"Because then I'll go into foster care."

Octavia nods.

"Are your lungs clearing up at all?" Raven asks, abruptly changing the subject.

"I'm not as gunky, but my oxygen sats are still low. It might just be that this is my new baseline."

She erupts into a long bout of coughing, and braces herself on the arm of Raven's chair. Raven gets up and guides her to sit down on the chair.

"So um, I heard Lincoln came to visit. Twice." Raven says, smirking.

"Who'd you hear that from?" Octavia asks, catching her breath.

"One of the nurses. Apparently she thinks you make a very cute couple."

"We're not dating."

"Do you want to be?"

"I don't know… maybe."

Raven smiles goofily.

"Anyway, are you hungry? I could grab you something from the cafeteria."

"No, I don't want anything."

"Come on, Octavia. Isn't your nutritionist going to bust your ass tomorrow?"

"Yeah… I guess I'll try to eat some apples and peanut butter."

Raven disappeared downstairs for 15 minutes, and came up with an apple, peanut butter, and a bottle of ginger ale.

"Thanks Raven."

"Well, I should probably get going. The buses only get creepier as the night gets later."

"Raven, why don't you stay here tonight?"

"O, I-"

"Come on, you'll sleep better here, and it's not like you have school tomorrow. I don't like the idea of you going back to your apartment with your mom's boyfriend there."

"Will the nurses mind?"

"Nah. I'll tell them you're my cousin."

She pauses for a moment. Octavia knows she hates letting people do things for her, but she's also scared to go home. Her mother's boyfriends have done worse than just hit her, and with her mom gone, there wouldn't be anyone to stop the current one from hurting her.

"Fine."

"Yay!" Octavia says, taking a handful of pills and digging into her apples and peanut butter.

The girls fall asleep watching movies, and both feel better in the other's company.


	6. Chapter 6

**Trigger Warning: non-explicit mentions of rape.**

* * *

Octavia's oxygen saturation doesn't improve, and she realizes it had probably been low for a while at home. The doctor tries her on a different IV medication, and sends her home with the rest of those IV meds and an oxygen tank to use as needed. She's thankful to be home, but usually she feels better after IVs, and this time she doesn't. School starts in two days, and Octavia mostly rests and organizes; she knows she needs to save her energy for the school days to come.

When she shows up at AP Euro, she's lugging a backpack that carries her oxygen tank and IV pump along with her books and a pencil case. Lincoln is already sitting there and grinning at her. She had texted him that she had made it home, and he rejoiced with her.

"Hey, still on oxygen, huh?"

"Yeah," she says glumly.

Raven walks in just then. She gives Octavia a delicate hug, and the girl can't tell if it's for Raven's own sake, or for hers.

"Hey, you doing better?" Raven asks.

"Mmm, kind of. What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Is your mom home?"

"Yeah. She's a mess. They put her in withdrawal, so she was puking on the bus, and she's been wrecked ever since she got home."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Alright, class let's get started," Mr. Kane says. As class starts, Octavia finds the sound her oxygen tank makes obnoxious, and hopes she's over-sensitive to how loud it is. The last thing she wants is to do is be even more annoying than she already is with her loud coughing during classes.

* * *

Lincoln comes over after the third day back at school, bringing the Captain America: The First Avenger for them to watch. They pop microwave popcorn and swath themselves in blankets because it's so freaking cold outside. Octavia is startled when she realizes she wishes she's snuggling with Lincoln instead of them being on the opposite ends of the three-seat couch.

"So, who is your favorite avenger?" Lincoln asks.

"Hmmm. I guess if I really had to choose, I'd say Black Widow."

"Yeah, she's pretty amazing. And worthy of holding the mjolnir."

"Sooo true. Who's your favorite?"

"I'm a big Falcon fan."

They watch the film, and Octavia can't stop glancing at Lincoln. Apparently, all of a sudden, she has a crush on him? A _big_ crush. The kind of crush that has her testing out the name Octavia Trikru. Unfortunately, her thoughts are interrupted by her brother coming home. He got a little weird when he found out Lincoln had visited her twice in the hospital, and now he's making an absolute racket in the kitchen as they watch their movie.

"Bellamy, are you doing dishes, or having a war in there?"

He doesn't respond.

When they finish the movie, Bellamy comes in and sits between them on the couch.

"So, what were you guys watching?"

"The first Captain America."

"Ah, nice."

Octavia can't even see Lincoln's face with Bellamy in the way. Irritably, she moves over to the chair perpendicular to the couch so she can see him again, but the movement triggers a coughing fit.

"Hmm, sounds like you need a neb and some PT," Bellamy says, and it sets Octavia off.

"Chill, Bell. Don't you have somewhere to be, or something?" She's pissed and he knows to back off.

"Yeah, I guess I should shower… or something," he says with a grin, and goes off to his room.

"Uh, should I go?" Lincoln asks.

"No. Bellamy's just being his weird overprotective self. I swear, whenever we're out and there's someone who's sick around, he will literally human shield me."

"Well, I'm not sick."

"Yeah, uh… I don't think that's what he's worried about. It's more that you're a male... type person. Not that I think you're, like, into me or anything. But he might." She can feel that she's blushing furiously, and it has nothing to do with the fever she had had only the day before.

"Well, I guess I wouldn't say I'm _not_ into you." He says quietly.

"Um, oh?" Her breath hitches a bit.

"Yeah, I mean you're definitely a person I enjoy a lot… and I guess I do hope to spend more time with you, possibly go to eat food… and do things, like I was maybe going to see if you wanted to go skating sometime. So I guess I was probably going to ask you at some point… I guess I'll just ask you now. Um, do you want to… date? Me?"

Before she can answer, they hear Bellamy howling with laughter from his room.

"Bellamy, I'm going to kill you!" She yells. She's blushing even further. "Yeah, Lincoln, I would like to date you."

"Really?"

She laughs. "Yeah. Also, skating sounds like fun."

"Okay, great!"

It's nearing 7pm, and both of them have homework to do, so they say goodnight. Lincoln is grinning like a little kid the whole bus ride home, and Octavia would be, if she wasn't giving Bellamy a stern talking-to.

* * *

The next day at school, neither teen can keep their eyes of the other. They keep glancing at each other, then quickly averting their eyes. Neither of them have ever dated before, and it's almost nausea-inducingly exciting.

Near the end of the day, Raven pulls Octavia aside. The girl had noticed a few weird bruises on Raven's arms when she rolled her sleeves up at lunch. Raven has also been solemn and quiet all day, which is unusual. Normally, she cracks jokes and gets sassy with the teachers, but today she keeps her head down.

"Hey, um, can I spend the night at your place? My… things aren't good at home."

"Of course."

She nods her thanks.

"Are you-"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Okay, but I want answers later."

* * *

They get home, and Octavia does a vest treatment right away, because she has been especially short of breath.

"Raven, you should tell me what's going on at home," she says, her voice shaking slightly from her vest.

"I'm fine. Just sick of my mom and her boyfriend." Her voice is flat.

"Really? Because you seemed a little desperate not to go home home this afternoon."

"Lay off, Octavia."

"No. I want to know what's happening. It's not like you're telling anyone else."

"My mom's boyfriend… I mean, he's like all the others. It's not news."

"I saw those bruises on your arms. What else did he do?"

"I don't want to talk about this." Her voice has a sharper edge than usual.

"Raven…"

"Stop, Octavia. Why do _I_ have to be the one who feels punished after _he_ hurts me."

"I just need to know if he-"

"No you don't!"

"Raven, I need to know if we need to buy you the morning-after pill. The last time this happened, you hadn't started your period. Now it's different. You could get-"

"Shit."

"So we need to-"

"Shit... Yeah."

"You should probably get checked out for STDs, too."

Raven hides her face.

"Shit."

Octavia can tell she's crying.

"I'll get Bellamy to drive us. Urgent care is still open, so we don't even have to go to the ER." Octavia tries to sound comforting. She doesn't know what to say. She doesn't know whether to stop her vest and give Raven a hug, or give her space. She grabs her phone and texts her brother.

 **O: Raven 911. Need you to drive us to urgnt care ASAP**

 **B: How bad?**

 **O: She needs Plan B.**

 **B: What's that?**

He sent a second text before she could reply.

 **B: Oh. I'll be there ASAP**

"He says he'll be here soon," Octavia says to Raven. They turn on Parks and Recreation, and neither girl pays too much attention. When Bellamy gets home, he immediately walks into the living room, wanting to see how Raven looks; if she's okay. She had red eyes, but other than that it's hard to see anything is wrong with her.

"Are you guys ready?" He asks simply.

Octavia nods and grabs a bag, putting her iPad, a textbook, and some meds in it. Raven follows them out to the car silently.

"Raven," Bellamy says on the way, "At the clinic, they might want to do a rape kit. They'll collect evidence for if you ever want to follow through with pressing charges. You don't have to decide anything, they'll just collect it in case you ever want to use it."

"No, I'm not doing that."

"But-"

"No! I'm not getting swabbed all over and relinquishing my underwear. I took a shower this morning anyways. How do you even know about this stuff?"

"Echo had to take one of her friends in."

"All I want is testing for STDs and a morning-after pill. I won't do anything else. I don't know why I'm even discussing this with you."

* * *

The wait in urgent care is agonizing. Raven is too quiet and her hands are shaking a bit. Octavia is glad she can be with her friend, but all the sick people around are making her paranoid. She has a paper mask covering her face, but if she gets sick, she'll end up in the hospital and miss school. When Raven's name finally gets called, they try to figure out if Bellamy should go back with her, and finally decide that just Octavia will go with Raven. The girl refuses to let the doctor examine her, and won't answer any questions about her sexual encounter. The doctor orders blood and urine tests, and prescribes birth control. Apparently, they could have just gone to any old drug store to pick up the morning-after pill. The urine test is a quick trip to the bathroom, but they have to wait another 20 minutes for the girl's name to be called for the blood draw. When that's over, they go to the drug store and pick up Raven's prescriptions, and then they finally go home.

It's 8pm by the time they get back, and their mother is home.

"Did you enjoy your outing?" She asks absentmindedly. She has no idea where they were.

"Uh, yeah," Octavia says, coughing roughly.

"Honey, have you done your percussion tonight? You sound awful."

"No, I haven't gotten to it."

"Okay, I can do it tonight."

Raven slips into the bathroom to take her pill while Octavia and her mother go into the girl's room to do her chest PT. That night, even though Raven won't talk much, and keeps insisting that she's fine, she can't stop crying. She cries in the bathroom. She cries in the dark kitchen when she goes for a glass of water. She cries in her little nest they created for her on the floor to sleep in.

"Raven?" Octavia whispers after the lights are off.

"Yeah?" Her voice is shaky and soft.

"Do you want to come sleep up here?"

There's a pause, and then a rustling of blankets. Soon, Octavia feels her mattress dip as Raven slips into bed beside her. Both girls are skinny, but the twin bed is still a little tight for the two of them. Raven ends up curling around Octavia, and they fall asleep to the steady sound of the CF patient's oxygen mask.

* * *

 **What do you think is going to happen next? I love reading your reviews, so keep them coming!**


	7. Chapter 7

**I hope I'm doing a good job of balancing out cute, lovey scenes with the tougher ones. Here's the next chapter.**

* * *

The next day is hard. Raven is nauseated and her abdomen keeps cramping up, but she doesn't know if she can take anything for it, and she _definitely_ doesn't want to go to the nurse about it. Octavia insists that she stay at her place again that night. Lincoln had asked her to go skating, and so she has to ask him to reschedule.

"Hey Lincoln, " Octavia says, catching him at lunch. "Uh, I need to cancel our skating plans for tonight. I'm really sorry."

"It's okay. Is it the cold weather?"

"No, it's Raven. She's um, not in a good place. If you want to come over and watch movies, we could do that. She just needs company."

"Okay. I haven't seen Antman yet, have you?"

"No. I'd love to watch that. And Raven would be totally down for that."

"Alright, see you tonight."

When Lincoln shows up that night, Octavia greets him with a hug, and they go into the living room. Raven is lying curled up on the couch, silent and staring with a heating pad pressed to her abdomen. Lincoln knows enough about periods from his sisters to guess that she's probably on hers. But then, there's something about her face which makes him sense something more is going on.

"Hi Raven."

"Hey," she says softly. Octavia sits down beside her and Raven adjusts so that her head is in the girl's lap. Lincoln puts the movie in and they don't talk much; there's a dark mood in the room that none of them can shake.

After the movie, Raven goes to get ready for bed, and Octavia walks Lincoln to the door.

"Hey, thanks for being flexible tonight. I really appreciate it."

"No problem. You're a really good friend to Raven. I don't know her that well, but it seems like it's good she's here."

"Yeah. Things at home aren't good for her. I wish there was a good way to get her out of there."

"Is she not safe there?"

Octavia shakes her head. "But she doesn't want to go into foster care. She wants to keep going to our school, and stay with her friends. ."

"Has she ever tried to get emancipated?"

"What's that?"

"It's where you can live on your own and act as your own guardian as long as you follow certain requirements. She should look into it."

"I'll tell her about it."

"Good."

"Yeah, good." She smiles.

"Well I should go. See you at school on Monday," he says. Then, before she knows what's happening, he's leaning toward her, and then his lips meet her cheek below her nasal cannula, and she can feel the scruff on his face, and she smiles as he pulls back.

"See you at um, at school," she says after a second. She's completely head over heels for him, and it makes her feel and act like an idiot more often than not.

* * *

Lincoln and Octavia realize that she's never been to his house or met his sisters. They remedy that the next Friday when Lexa will be home. She takes the bus with him to his apartment and when they get there, the elevator is out of service. It's only a three story apartment building, so it shouldn't be a big deal, but for her, it is. It takes her a long time to get up the first flight and she's so winded that she has to sit down on the stairs and crank up her oxygen.

"How are you doing?" He asks after a couple of minutes.

"Sorry. This shouldn't be a bit deal."

"You don't have to apologize. It's not your fault."

"We're late. Now your sisters are going to hate me."

"No they're not."

She sighs, then gets up. Meanwhile, he grabs her oxygen backpack and puts it on himself, tucking an arm around her back for support. They _finally_ make it upstairs, and when they get inside, three women are in the kitchen. One, in a pristine tan dress and a pair of heels approaches her. She feels underdressed in her jeans, leather jacket, and combat boots.

"You must be Octavia. I'm Anya." She holds out her hand and Octavia shakes it.

"It's nice to meet you."

"We've been telling Lincoln that we wanted to meet you ever since he told us about you," a girl with wavy brown hair says from beside the stove, where she's stirring something. "I'm Lexa."

"And I'm her girlfriend, Clarke," the blonde girl beside her says. "It's nice to meet you."

Octavia smiles, feeling a little awkward and more than a little out of breath from the stairs. Luckily, Lincoln pulls a chair out for her at the table, and she sits down gratefully, taking her oxygen backpack from him and setting it down next to her. She's not sure if Lincoln has told them about her cystic fibrosis, and wonders what they think of her oxygen tubes.

"Octavia, would you like something to drink? We have water, soda, tea…"

"I'd love some soda."

Eventually they sit down to eat, and the food is amazing. She and Bellamy usually just make simple food or order out, but here they're having roasted chicken, green beans, and smashed potatoes with blueberry pie for dessert. It's delicious, but she has no appetite, and only eats a little of what's on her plate. She hopes she doesn't seem rude, but she's pretty sure vomiting would be more rude than barely eating.

"Octavia, are you a Sophomore this year?" Anya asks.

"Yeah."

"Oh god, I remember those days," Lexa says. "All nighters to finish papers, trying to get good experiences for my resume."

"Experiencing your sexual awakening with me," Clarke says smoothly and Lincoln covers his ears.

"I don't need to hear about this."

Lexa laughs and kisses Clarke on the cheek.

They continue talking for an hour after dinner, and Octavia loves his family. Both of his sisters are a little intense, but she can tell that they really love their brother, and they're kind to her.

* * *

Things seem to be going a little smoother at Raven's home, which is a relief to Octavia. It means that she can focus on being her friend rather than her mom. It also means she can spend more time with Lincoln, and she does. They have their skating date, and it's a blast. They go on a 30 degree day, meaning her breath comes a little easier to her, and she can skate for 10 minutes straight before she has to take a break. They go back to his apartment, where the elevator is now fixed, and have hot chocolate. He kisses her as she leaves and she feels giddy the whole bus ride home.

* * *

Two Saturdays later, Octavia is decidedly sick. She can't breathe, she's coughing and sneezing constantly, and she's throwing up every half hour. Bellamy has to go work, but brings her saltines and ginger ale, and tells her he'll call to check in on her.

She spends most of the day sleeping between bouts of puking. In the afternoon, Lincoln texts her.

 **Linc: Hey, missed you at school today.**

 **O: Got the flu or some shit. Sick as heck.**

 **L: That sucks. Want company?**

 **O: Maybe tomorrow. I think I just need to sleep.**

 **L: Okay. Feel better.**

She doesn't get better, and on Sunday she doesn't wake up till 1pm, when she gets a phone call from her brother. She tries to speak, but instead she ends up coughing for a few minutes, her brother waiting patiently till she stops.

"Hello?" She says groggily.

"Wow, you sound like death."

"I feel like death left in the fridge for 3 weeks."

"Are you doing okay? Have you had anything to eat?"

"I just woke up."

"Will you take your temperature?"

She does, and she has a fever of 102 degrees Fahrenheit.

"Why don't you give your doctor and the CF clinic a call and let them know what's up. Mom left you saltines and a thermos of tea."

Sure enough, she sees the crackers and thermos on her table.

"Where are you on the breath scale?"

"I don't know. Like a four."

"Is your oxygen on?"

"I took it off when you called."

"Okay. I probably won't be back until 7 or 8 tonight. Let me know if you need me, okay?"

"Okay."

They hang up, and Octavia needs to pee. She sits up slowly. She knows her oxygen sats are low, and if she exerts herself too much, she'll pass out. She holds onto her bed as she slowly stands up. Black dots creep into her vision, and her knees almost give out, but she leans heavily on the bed and waits for it to pass. She holds onto walls and furniture as she makes her way to the bathroom. It's stupid how out of breath she is, but she had left her oxygen in her room because she wanted both hands for steadying herself instead of one holding her oxygen tank. She makes it to the bathroom, and it's fine. That is, It's fine until she gets up from the toilet, and then everything starts going dark, and she can't find something to hold onto and she feels her head hit something as she falls.

* * *

 **Please leave a review!**


	8. Chapter 8

Hi readers! Sorry it's been a while since I updated. I have moved this story over to Archive of Our Own. I am under the same username there, and you can find two new stories of mine there, as well as new chapters of this story. I still am updating other stories here on fanfiction, just not this one.

ALSO I revised some of the earlier chapters of this story when I posted them on Ao3, so please make sure to read them over, or the later chapters might not make sense.

I'm so glad you all are still interested in this story! Sorry I didn't let you guys know about the move till now. I've been busy with university, and it slipped my mind.

Happy Reading!

-Addy


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